1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vehicle body floor construction of a motor vehicle, and particularly to improvements in a vehicle body floor construction wherein a tunnel arranged in the longitudinal direction of a car is formed at the central portion in the widthwise direction of a floor panel and a fuel tank is disposed in the tunnel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, in a motor vehicle, particularly, a passenger vehicle, a fuel tank has been disposed at the back of seats disposed at the rear end of space occupied by occupants, whereby there have been imposed limits on the utilization of a space in the rear portion of the vehicle by the space occupied by the fuel tank.
To solve the above-described problems, it is conceivable that, in a RR (rear engine-rear wheel drive) type motor vehicle, a FF (front engine-front wheel drive) type motor vehicle or the like, in which a propeller shaft does not longitudinally traverse a floor panel of the vehicle therebeneath, a tunnel upwardly projecting from the surface of a floor panel, downwardly opening and disposed in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle is formed at the central portion in the widthwise direction of the floor panel, and a fuel tank is disposed in the tunnel, so that effective utilization of the space in the rear portion of the vehicle can be enhanced and further reduced total length of the vehicle and decreased weight of the vehicle can be attained.
In the case of the above-described vehicle body floor construction, the fuel tank is disposed at the undersurface of the central portion of the floor panel, and hence, it is necessary to protect the fuel tank against a stone sent flying by a tire during running of the vehicle, or a curb stone or an obstacle onto which the motor vehicle runs during running.